A whistle blew as crowds in bleachers cheered, their chatter and laughter filling the gymnasium. Tryouts for the taekwondo club were reaching their peak. Usually, it was off-limits for students to watch, but things were getting exciting now that Yu-jun was there.  Of course, it had started as a tiny favour from someone he had just known, and suddenly he was trying out for a sports team. Integrating in the school was hardly a problem, it was going too well even. Within a week, he had successfully been peer pressured to join 4 new clubs, and this fifth one was seriously drawing the line. 

He sat down abruptly, sweat forming on his brow. A classmate he had just met chatted beside him about how well he had done for a "new guy" and that he was definitely going to place in the competition. Yu-jun sighed at this remark. 

Meanwhile, Ishaan himself sat down on a chair, observing the next two participants for the tryout.  The whistle he had just blown dangled from his neck. He took note of the hard wooden gym floor. "We should really invest in a dojang," he mumbled.

An arm rested on his shoulder: the team coach, Mr. Jung. "Good call. You know a thing or two about taekwondo, eh?"

Ishaan nodded, "Thanks. I know taekwondo but I'm, uh, not too good."

Mr. Jung's eyebrow raised. "Really? You should tryout, then I'll be the judge of that. Because you know your stuff, at least." He pumped a fist in the air. "Build up that confidence, you know? You can do it." He then turned towards the next two participants and prepared to referee. 

Ishaan bent over in his seat, hands clasped on his knees. He peeked at Yu-jun, who was shifting uncomfortably as classmates praised him and mocked his opponent. Recently, especially after that whole afterschool incident, Ishaan began noticing small details about Yu-jun, notably the fact that he did not like to socialize. Often, Yu-jun seemed to be on the run, trying to spend time alone, and some classmate would drag him back to stardom. At least that's what it seemed like. Ishaan himself had been trying to approach him to thank him for his help that day, but based on previous experience, he was aware that it might take him a while. He might even be on a waitlist, if that even existed. 

What should I even do? It didn't seem right to bother Yu-jun just to say a quick thank-you, considering he wasn't too pleased with socializing. He decided it'd be best to get him something similar to what he was given, a snack of some sort. Now, the question of what Yu-jun liked eating came up. 

"Alright, we're going to start wrapping it up in five minutes people, just so you know!" 

Eight people. Then some others began leaving. Five people. Three people. Ishaan counted, thinking how he would reach Yu-jun before tryouts ended. As a couple more students left the bleachers, Ishaan made his move. He got up from his seat and began walking to the bleachers. 

"Hey." 

He waved at Yu-jun, who was also starting to pack up. Ishaan winced a bit at this, realizing he might have picked the wrong time. 

Yu-jun looked up. "Oh hey." He continued packing.

"I was wondering, if you-"

Before he could continue, a loud bang came from a shiny metal waterbottle. Yu-jun bent over, picked it up, and turned around to the owner. "Here." A classmate laughed and began chattering with Yu-jun. "That was so loud, man." Just then, shouts to clean up began, and Ishaan felt the urge to go back and help out.

Ishaan felt a little embarrassed. Something told him that he was definitely talking at the wrong time, and so he moved slightly back, inch by inch, until eventually he just did a quick wave to Yu-jun, who wasn't looking, and reluctantly headed back to clean up. From afar, he could still hear the classmate talking to Yu-jun and laughing.

 He put an arm around his shoulder, which Yu-jun pushed back. "Wait, where'd Ishaan go?"

"Dunno. Bro, wanna hang out after school today? We can have, like, a  victory ice cream or something-"

"I was talking to him, man." Yu-jun's voice became firmer. "Why'd you interrupt? Also, I'm not going, I have studying to do. See you." He walked a little faster, and Ishaan heard his slightly louder steps. 

"What's his problem, man? He did so well during tryouts so why's he being a wuss?"

"Seems like he's mad," said another guy.

Ishaan rolled his eyes a bit. Of course Yu-jun would be mad, the guy can't catch a break, he thought. He began wiping down the target bags as others began folding up the bleachers. I definitely shouldn't have talked to him. Hopefully he's not mad at me too. 

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It didn't take long for news of Yu-jun's small, unexpected outburst to reach Ishaan's ears once more. Keyboards clicked throughout the class, and small murmurs muddled the classroom.

"You guys think it's okay if I put this image here?"

"Nah man, that's kinda ugly, switch it out."

It was a huge relief that Ishaan had group members who actually worked. It was also a relief for him that his bangs had grown, or perhaps flattened out, so it looked like he had a bit more hair and did not look as horrendous.

About 15 minutes of actual silence, someone finally went off-topic.

"Did you guys hear about that whole thing with Yu-jun?"

Ishaan, who had been deeply concentrating on his part, perked his ears.

"What, that he got in a fight with Conner? Yeah, everyone's been talking about it."

"Dude, it wasn't even a fight, he just said something kinda rude that's it."

"Man," the guy called Alan sighed. "Yu-jun ain't even that cool man. Sometimes I feel like he thinks he's all that."

"Yeah," agreed another. "Like how hard is it to hang out? Geez."

"Actually, it's because I arranged to work on something with him today."

Suddenly, all eyes were on Ishaan. He felt uncomfy with all the trash-talking, and as much as he was trying to avoid attention, that was something he could not stand.

"Oh. Okay, that actually makes sense."

Alan tried to argue. "Yeah, but how long would you guys even take-"

"Bro." Jeremy, who had been working quietly, keeping himself out of the discussion, finally spoke. "That's none of your business."

Ishaan felt a little less pain in his heart. Someone other than him was sticking up for Yu-jun.

"Boys, are you all doing your work over here?"

Immediately, all their heads looked back down at their screens. "Whatever, it's all good. Let's just work on the presentation, guys." Then the clicking continued, and Ishaan felt relieved. Afterwards, there were very few rumours about the whole thing. With that, Ishaan figured it would be a good time to talk to Yu-jun since everything had died down.